GOLDMAN: Exclusive look at private stadium poll taken for Mayor Jones

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Paul Goldman is a local lawyer who helped run Doug Wilder's historic campaign for governor of Virginia.

GOLDMAN: Exclusive look at private stadium poll taken for Mayor Jones

Paul Goldman is a local lawyer who helped run Doug Wilder's historic campaign for governor of Virginia.

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – Jackpot! Here, only on WTVR.com and just for you, the results from a private poll taken for Mayor Jones on his Shockoe Stadium plan. How did I get access to it? As James Bond might say, “if I told you, I would have to kill you.”

But I can say this, it proved easy. I did what the Mayor’s aides should have done. I did what the Mayor’s pro-stadium posse should have done. I did what City Council and the Richmond Times-Dispatch should have done to get the results.

I did what WRIC and WWBT and the Richmond Free Press and Style Magazine and WRVA and WRIR should have done. Bingo! I went right to the source. That’s right, I went right to the Mayor’s own private source.

I went right out and talked to the people of Richmond, the way a Mayor and City Councilperson is supposed to do. How else do you get a poll of what the people are thinking, but to talk with the people?

Yes, I know this a “radical” idea in Richmond today among our elected leaders.

“Say what PG? You mean you actually go out and speak with the people, like Lincoln and Roosevelt and Kennedy and Dr. King use to do?”

Shocking, I know! Someone who actually gives a damn what the people think! How retro!

I confess, I actually think the Mayor and City Council should give the people their City Charter right to vote on the Stadium. The Mayor and City Council don’t want to do it.

So I am trying to do it the only way now possible, along with the citizen’s group.

In that connection, I bet I spoke to more citizens in an open, free “tell me what you think” discussion THEN THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL COMBINED last week.

Like Abe and Frankie and John and Martin, I had a real conversation with real people, not the phony “photo Ops” of today, the staged events, staged town meetings, staged this or that.

There are no aides hovering around, no entourage, no titles, nothing but me and you: whatever you want to say you get to say. Now it is true I am there to ask for your signature to put the two Stadium referendums on the ballot this November.

But once I explain all that, then the conversation goes where you want it, and believe me, the people of Richmond have been giving me an ear full. Two ears full.

Earth to Mayor Jones and City Council, you really need to get out more! You folks are tearing this city apart with how you have handled – and continue to handle – the Jones/City Council Shockoe/Development issue.

Yes, the Goldman Poll will not satisfy a PHD thesis, but it will satisfy doctorate requirements for those of us who have run an historic winning campaign or two in their day.

Just come out with me this Friday night, anytime Saturday or Sunday evening and see if the Goldman Poll isn’t right on. I would be happy to share the full results with the Mayor, but between us, I am the only one apparently interested in what the people think.

Paul Goldman is in no way affiliated with WTVR. His comments are his own, and do not reflect the views of WTVR or any related entity. Neither WTVR nor any of its employees or agents participated in any way with the preparation of Mr. Goldman’s comments.

Bob James

isso

Inundate the Richmond Inspector General’s Office, through their website, “Fraud Squad”.
Private Businesses, Party Donors, and Corporations are actually
running Richmond’s Public Government. They systematically
shut down Open Governance and Government’s Due Processes under City Charter. They are effectively shutting up Public Say and Public
Vote.
The Mayor, Council President, and Council Vice President
SERVE the Consortium(s) Boards; not Richmond Residents and Tax
Payers; under their Elected, Official Positions. This is a direct, dangerous, and Costly CONFLICT OF INTERESTS.

isso

How much has The Richmond Mayor/Coucil Spent, with Taxes, on Propaganda Campaign, Studies, Favored Contracted Services;
like Party Affiliated Symposium Speakers, favored subcontractors’ businesses for Historic Reviews, Contracted potential flood mitigation and utility relocation in the Bottom?
It is OUR Money, extorted, Freely, to satiate Party Donors, Developers, Big Business and Big Corporate’s Entitlements to Their Will; their Way;
without Public Say…

isso

Office of the Richmond Virginia Inspector General’s Office.
The “Fraud Squad’s Mission Statement:
The Fraud Squad was created on behalf of Richmond citizens and government employees in order to help make our government more accountable through the prevention and investigation of suspected waste, fraud and abuse.
“Helping to ensure the financial integrity of the City of Richmond.”